Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL

By Brig. (Retd.) S.N. Sachadeva

Even as a dedicated team from the Bush administration was mobilising Senators for a surprise unanimous vote in favour of the Indo-US nuclear deal, another secretive group in the administration ensured that Pakistan was simultaneously compensated. The Bush administration quietly announced at the Pentagon that it would equip . ...more

Polonium poisoning

By Dr. K.S. Parthasarthy

Madame Curie and Pierre Curie discovered polonium in 1898. When she received her second Noble Prize in 1911, in recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium among other contributions, she may not have dreamt that polonium will become infamous 95 .. ......more

Will next Rashtrapati be from J&K ?
TALES OF TRAVESTY

By Dr. Jitendra Singh

It is interesting. With the elections for the next President of India due in 2007, many a prospective as also non-prospective albeit self-styled aspirants .....more

Energy conservation

By Vikram Gour

Keeping in view the alarming situation on the Energy front in the country, December, 14 every year is celebrated as National Energy Conservation .....more

EDITORIAL

Beauty and beholder

There is a classical Chinese tale. One person goes to the house of another who has two wives. He is surprised that the host favours his plain-looking spouse over the one who is pretty. He can't resist himself and ask his host why it is so. The latter replies: "The pretty one knows she is pretty. I don't. The plain one knows she is plain. I don't. A bad person knows he is bad. I don't." The guest gets his answer. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Of course, we have been trained in this country from our childhood to believe: "handsome is as handsome does." It is not important how one looks. What is of significance is how one acts. Our scriptures have always put emphasis on intrinsic worth of a person. Many of us are well aware of the story of jealous Queen who wanted to get rid of her more beautiful step-daughter Snow White. The former would ask her magic mirror every day: "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" Her anger knew no bounds when one day she was told: "Queen, you're the fairest where you are, but Snow White is more beautiful by far." The Queen repeatedly planned the murder of Snow White only to lose her own life eventually. No reader of the tale has ever felt any sympathy for her. More often than not we hear of natural beauty. What does this really mean? It signifies a person as he or she looks without applying cosmetics. It may also imply the bounty that the nature has bestowed around us. Not everyone, however, likes the same environment. Some are fond of high mountains. The others are taken in by the majesty of vast oceans. Some like snow. There is a considerable majority of those who dread its sight. Forests appeal and scare simultaneously. Our saints and philosophers have in all ages given preference to the beauty of the soul over that of the body. Aristotle, for instance, had discovered: "The beauty of the soul shines out when a man bears with composure one heavy mischance after another, not because he does not feel them, but because he is a man of high and heroic temper." In Plato's words: "Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity." On the face of it Albert Einstein's observation "the pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives" sounds simple. If one digs deep one will find it very meaningful notably if one is conscious of achievements of one of the greatest scientists. Can beauty in this case be anything different from the emancipation of mind? Einstein had perhaps drawn a leaf out of Mahatma Gandhi's quote: "I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings. My wisdom flows from the Highest Source. I salute that Source in you. Let us work together for unity and love." Physical beauty is temporary. It is underlined by a wise statement: "She was a beauty in her youth is a fact which she alone remembers."

These days there is too much emphasis on plastic beauty. People also like to turn up in great style in public functions. All this is well understood. At the same time, they will do well to remember what an astute man had said: "Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clear to the bone."

Nuke deal, Pak build up

By Brig. (Retd.) S.N. Sachadeva

The proposed sale, notified to the Congress, comes close on the heels of unprecedented American participation in an International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS) in Karachi a few days ago. Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and several other US defence companies, which are supporters of the Indo-US nuclear deal and potential sellers of arms to India, participated in the five-day event.

Ironically, the official slogan of IDEAS, which was inaugurated by General Pervez Musharraf, was "arms for peace" and its theme was "expanding global security".

The Bush administration's profit-motivated attempt to sell nuclear technology to India and conventional arms to Pakistan is drawing criticism not only in the US but also in India. There are fears that this may upset the conventional military balance in South Asia, but will not prevent a nuclear arms race in the subcontinent.

Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, asked in the latest issue of the association's journal: "What is the most serious weapons-related security threat?" Then he answered: "The latest geostrategic rationale for many US (arms) sales is the so-called war on terror. US officials claim that the recent sale to Pakistan of F-16 jets with air-to-air missiles will help in the fight against al Qaida. In reality, they are for fighting India and they create a market for selling similar US fighters to India."

The latest US arms sale to Pakistan involves 2,769 Radio Frequency TOW 2A missile, 415 RF bunker-buster missiles, 121 TOW launchers for wire-guided and wireless missiles, E-2C Hawkeye 2000 Airborne Early Warning System, simulators and support equipment.

Some are for Pakistan's air defence network in aid of its naval forces. By no stretch does Pakistan face any massive naval threat from the Taliban or al Qaida. Therefore, these equipments can only be used against the Indian Navy while the missiles can prove deadly for India in the event of war.

The release of 28 F-16s will strengthen the interdiction capabilities of Pakistan Air Force, bringing within its range the whole of North India - as far as Agra and Gwalior. The whole range of other sophisticated weapons for the army will encourage Pakistan to try settling scores with India by waging the fourth war in the subcontinent sooner or later.

Weapons sullied to Pakistan in the past have been used only against India. Pakistan's direct involvement in large-scale terrorism in India continues. It nuclear and missile programmes are being relentlessly pursued. Their (Indian experts) advice is that the supply of the new equipment and force multipliers contained in the package is likely to trigger an arms race in this region - the first after the end of the Cold War - which you and I earnestly wish to avoid.

The south Asian security has four main players, namely, India, Pakistan, China and the United States of America. While India stands all by itself, Pakistan has god fathers - China and US. Indian adversaries are arming Pakistan, come what may, with nuclear, missile technologies and other deadly arsenals. With the revocation of the Pressler law, a nuclear Pakistan is an acceptable fact for the US, something similar to a nuclear-capable Israel.

China as a major arms and technology supplier to Pakistan has provided the Islamic state not only ready to use medium-range missiles but the requisite technology to develop them indigenously. In terms of Pakistan's nuclear capability even the former CIA Director James Woolsey, had told the US Senate in 1993 that China has always regarded a nuclear armed Pakistan as a crucial ally and counterweight to India. And China has truly lived to its avowed military objectives by providing Pakistan all offensive technologies.

The Indian response to these developments has been marked by patience in the face of pressures from the US for the latter's lack of understanding of South Asia's conflict dynamics. Even the world community led by the United States has consistently ignored such basic facts that India has been spending the lowest proportion of its GDP (gross domestic product) on defence as compared to other countries in the region except Bangladesh. In terms of the GDP percentage it is just 2.39 compared to Pakistan's 8 per cent and China's 12 per cent.

India ranks 36th among 37 countries in Asia in soldier-citizen ratio. While India had 1.20 soldiers per thousand population in 2005, Pakistan had 6.35 and China 2.69. China today is the largest military power followed by India and Pakistan. As for the imports of arms, Pakistan occupies the 11th position in the world among the top 20, which include nine Asian countries.

Pakistan wants to grab Kashmir by use of force or through promoting insurgency. Pushed to the walls by the fast changing geostrategic insurgency by Pakistan and China, India has to gear itself to defend its geographical sovereignty. But, India has to divert a sizeable portion of its exports earnings to match the latest Pakistan acquisitions. Moreover, the shipments of arms to Pakistan will have a deleterious impact on the Indo-US relations notwithstanding the nuclear deal.

The Cold War paradigm of India-US relations centred on a deep strategic divide. In New Delhi's eyes, US interests in India were thought essentially to rest on whether one line up with Washington against Moscow or not, everything else being reducible to that fundamental decision. After the Cold War, a broader paradigm seemed to be under construction. US interests were thought to go beyond a narrow strategic agenda - now proliferation - to one that included common responses to common threats (eg. fundamentalism, threats to international security in other regions). Economic and technological ties and a variety of "functional" issues (eg. the global environment, drugs, AIDS) were thought to add depth to the relationship. In this new paradigm, there was greater room for manoeuvre, for trade-offs, for a second diplomatic tract.

The latest arms package will adversely affect the consolidation of this broader paradigm. It will help push Indian estimations of US policy back towards the old paradigm with repercussions for Indian policy. Already, in response to the package, India has promised to increase defence spending and to push forward production and deployment of the Prithvi missile. US policy and the Indian response seem all too drearily and dreadfully familiar. We are in danger of walking backwards into the future.

Does the package affect India-Pakistan relations? Yes, for the worse, could relations be much worse? Probably not: they are almost rock-bottom anyway. Probably, yes.

Finally, does the package do anything to domestic politics in India and Pakistan? One explanation of US interest in resuming arms sales to Pakistan is to strengthen General Musharraf who is seen as a force for moderation both internally and externally. The arms package, though, is unlikely to do anything for the viability of his government which will be determined by a number of other factors - the state of the economy, corruption misgovernance, law and order, and civil-military relations. The arms package makes it even more unlikely that anything greatly constructive will happen.

This battering of America's ego is good for two reasons, First because it will teach the US some humility and perhaps help Americans to recognise that countries like India are their friends; and the second that whatever its faults, the US is still the sole superpower in the world, one which has always shown that it rises to exceptional occasions - whether during the Second World War when it helped humanity to get rid of Nazism, or today in this very important war against terrorism, which is actually a war between the West and India on one side, and Islam and China (which, let us not forget, has given Pakistan the nuclear weapon) on the other - as Samuel Huntington has rightly predicted. But first the battle lines have to be drawn and friends and enemies have to recognise each other. INAV

Polonium poisoning

By Dr. K.S. Parthasarthy

On November 1, Litvinenko met two Russians at London Hotel, one a former KGB officer. He also met Mario Scaramella, an Italian academic at Sushi bar in Piccadilly. Later Litvinenkov felt unwell and someone took him to Barnet General Hospital. According to the newspaper, on November 11, he told BBC Russian Service that he is in a very bad shape following a serious poisoning.

As his condition deteriorated, he was transferred to University College hospital in Central London on November 17. On November 19, it was reported that he was poisoned with thallium, a rat killer. After three days, he started receiving intensive care; a day later there was a report that he was poisoned with radioactive thallium. He died on November 23. Earlier he had dictated a statement claiming that someone poisoned him in a London restaurant.

On November 24, the UK Health Protection Agency revealed that they found traces of polonium in the blood and urine of the victim. The Agency established that he had significant quantities of polonium-210 in his body.

As the polonium story got extensive media coverage, the World Health Organization (WHO), the US Health Physics Society (HPS) and the NHS Direct published very useful fact sheets on polonium-210. Po-210 has a half-life of 138 days. That means its radioactivity decays to half the original value in 138 days. It emits alpha particles which can be easily shielded by a sheet of paper. It poses no risk when it is outside the body, as the skin itself can effectively shield the alpha particles.

The Health Physics Society estimated that a microgramme (one millionth of a gramme) of polonium in the human body will deliver a radiation dose of 50 gray (Gy) to the whole body. (Gray is a unit of dose; the dose is said to be one gray when the energy absorbed by the tissues is one Joule per kilogramme). Experts consider that a whole body dose of 5 gray is fatal to human beings.

Nearly 50 to 90 per cent the polonium taken into the body will promptly appear in gastrointestinal (GI) tract will leave the body through the faces. The remaining portion will reach virtually all organs through the blood stream.

Generally, spleen and kidney concentrates polonium more than other tissues. Nearly 45 per cent of ingested polonium will get deposited in vital organs such as the spleen, kidney and liver and 10 percent in bone marrow and reminder gets distributed throughout the body.

HPS highlighted the fact that any one ingesting several microgrammes of polonium 210 will suffer gastrointestinal tract symptoms which will mimic food poisoning-nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting and general tiredness. Loss of hair and massive depletion of white blood cells will follow.

The symptoms exhibited by Litvinenkov are almost exactly as indicated by the Health Physics Society fact sheet on Po-210. HPA estimated that the victim must have been poisoned with about 0.7 microgramme of Po-210.

HPA issued a series of press releases updating the information they have. Its staff identified small quantities of radioactive material in a few areas at the Istu Sushi restaurant at 167, Piccadilly and in some spots of the Millennium Hotel London. The Agency requested people who visited these places on November 1 to contact NHS Direct on a specified phone number for advice. (NHS Direct provides 24-hour health care-delivering telephone and e-health information services day and night direct to the public).

HPA also assisted the London Metropolitan police in its investigation. The agency has been monitoring many other areas identified by the police as part of their investigation primarily to assess whether there is any public health risk.

HPA's public health follow up included testing urine samples from those in close contact with the victim, those who called for advice via NHS Direct and those who worked or were present in the affected areas. The urine sample from an adult family member who has has been in close contact with him showed some polonium. The Agency noted that the levels are not significant enough to result in any illness in the short term and the results are reassuring in that any increased risk in the long term is likely to be very small.

In the latest update issued on December 7, HPA noted that in all of the Itsu Sushi staff asked to provide urine samples, they found nothing of concern. Preliminary results for seven members of staff working in the Pine Bar of the Millennium Hotel on November 1 show that they appear to have been exposed to low levels of polonium. There is no health risk in the short term and in the long term the risk is judged to be very small.

Following this information HPA felt it prudent to assess that staff who was working in the PIne Bar of the Hotel on October 31 and November 2 besides November 1.

On the basis of the monitoring results received so far from several other sites we still believe that the risk to the general public of having been exposed to polonium-210 is likely to be very low, the HPA release concluded.

By Dr. K.S. Parthasarathy this incident is likely to cause concerns far above the potential harm from it, as any news item dealing with radioactivity gets disproportionate media coverage. We need not worry too much about the incident as the incident was of an unusual nature. Also we must not relax that safety and physical security measures already in place for all types of radioactive sources.

This incident likely to cause concerns far above the potential harm from it, as any news item dealing with radioactivity gets disproportionate media coverage. We need not worry about the incident as it was of an unusual nature. But at the same time, we must not relax the safety and physical security measures already in place for all types of radioactive sources.

By spiking food with radioactive material one can poison an individual. There have been only a few incidents of such radiation poisoning. During 1998, Cheng GU, a pharmacology student at Brown University, USA stole a small quantity of a radioactive substance (Iodine-125), added it to a vegetable dish and gave it to two fellow students, one of them being his ex-girlfriend. Police arrested him and charged him with assault, larceny and poisoning. He was convicted to suffer imprisonment for 10 years and later to be deported to China. The radiation doses involved were very small.

PTI Feature.

Will next Rashtrapati be from J&K ?
TALES OF TRAVESTY

By Dr. Jitendra Singh

It is interesting. With the elections for the next President of India due in 2007, many a prospective as also non-prospective albeit self-styled aspirants have started warming up or, shall we say, lobbying well in advance.

With the BJP going public on supporting the present incumbent Abdul Kalam for a second term, one option is closed. Nevertheless, with several other political parties and groups capable of affecting the mandate of electoral college, the final decisive lines are yet to be drawn. Meanwhile, compulsively conditioned mind-sets may soon demand reservation for President's post on the basis of caste, religion or region. And, if that was indeed to happen, the post of President of India could as well be reserved for this term for the State of Jammu and Kashmir which boasts of not one but two high-profile and persistently ambitious aspirants namely Dr Farooq Abdullah and Dr Karan Singh.

Both Farooq Abdullah and Karan Singh are apparently poles apart from each other and yet there is much in common between the two of them. For example, both of them have their names prefixed with the title ‘‘Dr’’.... one, inspite of being a non-practising physician and the other, inspite of being a non-practising philosopher. Both of them are known for their flexible political affiliations. For example Farooq Abdullah can alternately ally with the Congress and the BJP depending on political expediency or can ally with the Congress at the State level to form a Government and simultaneously hook on to BJP at the Centre to secure a ministerial berth for his son. Similarly, Karan Singh can alternately ally with Indira Gandhi's Congress and Charan Singh's Lok Dal depending on who is in power or rejoin Congress to reward himself with a Rajya Sabha seat and simultaneously prompt his son to join National Conference to secure a ministerial berth but quit the party the moment it is thrown out of power. Farooq Abdullah is blessed with the gift of wisdom in hind-sight or retrospective which is why he did not utter a word of protest during Gujarat/Godhra carnage but no sooner did the Vajpayee Government lose power he voiced his regret for not having walked out of the NDA alliance over the Gujarat issue. Similarly, Karan Singh too is blessed with a similar gift of wisdom in hind sight which is why as Union Health Minister he did not utter a word of protest when Sanjay Gandhi wielded extra-constitutional authority to order forcible sterlisations but no sooner did the Indira Gandhi Government lose power he was the first one to depose before the Shah Commission against Sanjay Gandhi's aggressive family planning campaign.

And yes, one more striking similarity which neither Farooq Abdullah nor Karan Singh would be ready to confess outwardly but given the circumstances it would show itself spontaneously and evidently. Whatever the respective professed ideologies of the two, if offered the mandate to become President of India, none of them would wait a moment to bother whether the mandate comes from the Congress or the BJP, the UPA or the NDA. Others may describe it as desperation or opportunism but each of the two in such a situation would explain it away as his commitment and eagerness to serve the nation.

With the common man having no direct voting right in a Presidential election, he can only pray to God to grant the two sons of soil their ambition of life. And Umapathy can only pray that the two donot end up as caricatures of the famous Ghalib verse ‘‘Hazaaron Khwaashen Aisi Ke Har Khwaash Pe Dum Nikle, Bahut Nikle Mere Armaan Magar Phir Bhi Kam Nikle. ’’

Energy conservation

By Vikram Gour

Keeping in view the alarming situation on the Energy front in the country, December, 14 every year is celebrated as National Energy Conservation Day to involve the masses in the process energy conservation. There is a large 'ever widening' gap between the supply and demand relating to the Electric Power and the other energy resources including the crude oil. The author in the 'write up' would deal with Energy Conservation in our state with special reference to the Electric Energy. Other forms of energy such as crude oil, coal or atomic energy have yet to be found in the State.

Almost for the last three decades the gap between supply and demand of electric power has been steadily increasing and we have not been able to reduce the gap or we may say we have not made any serious effort to reduce the gap. In spite of the fact that the state has the highest potential in the country for hydroelectric power generation yet its forbidding cost of production has prevented the state from going in for increasing power generation. It is, therefore, imperative that we find alternate methods of reducing the gap between supply and demand.

According to economists the cheapest form of alternate energy resource is 'energy saved'. As one unit of energy produced is equivalent to 1.25 units of energy generated taking the losses in transmission and distribution (T&D) to be only 25 per cent (But in our state the losses are more than 50 per cent) The reduction in (T&D) losses, the theft and misuse of electricity can significantly increase the availability of electric energy to the law abiding citizens' for multifarious purposes of development of the state.

The above statement is truer in case of our state where the losses due to T&D and theft/misuse amount to a whopping 70 per cent of about 1500 MW of recorded power made available to the users in state only about 30-35 per cent of electric energy is recorded as sold. Only if we are able to prevent about 50 per cent from theft and misuse and reduce our T&D losses to the national standard of 19-20 per cent we shall be making tremendous gains in the availability of electric power to the genuine power user. Say if we save about 50 per cent of the 70 per cent losses and reduce the T &D losses to our national average of about 19-20 per cent we shall be making available 1160-1200 MW of recorded power to the genuine consumer at the present rate of losses being experienced by our system. (Imagine the cost of generation per MW as on today 7-8 crores). This would not only stabilize the power distribution system but would also increase revenue manifold. This can be done by 100 per cent metering and strict accountability of the field staff involved in the power distribution system.

Since the PDD has started the metering of the installations and a target of 100 per cent metering is on the anvil the electricity bill of the consumer is bound to rise tremendously if he continues to use the electricity as he was using before. To reduce his bill to his paying capacity the user shall have to adopt means to make fair use of electricity. If you look at your last power bill you will find that with just a little extra care and alertness your power bill could be brought down.

There are some useful tips for consumers of economize on the use of energy.

* Switch off an extra light here and a fan there.

* Switch off fans and lights in unoccupied rooms.

* Change over to compact fluorescent lamps, CFL (9-12 watts) from incadescent bulbs and slim tubes (20-40 watts with choke).

* Use washing machine at proper loads and every alternate day when the full Kg load of clothes collects. Use Kitchen mixer on alternate day, if possible.

* Mix hot water in a bucket for a bath rather than a geyser shower which consumes more power and upto 90 liters of water for a bath. Get the geyser element changed every 5-6 years.

* Switch on the AC an hour later and switch off an hour earlier. Keep the windows closed after switching off to retain the cooling effect for a longer time. Clean the AC filter at least once every fortnight.

* Switch on electric iron only after getting together all the clothes to be ironed.

* Teach children and instruct domestic staff to switch off lights when not in use or even when you leave the room for a few seconds.

* In rooms use light colors for walls. This helps reduce lighting requirement upto 40 per cent.

* Keep lights and fixtures clean and dirt free. Dust and dirt reduce the lighting level as much as 30 per cent.

* Clean and lubricate fans regularly and replace old regulators with electronic regulators. They help reduce electricity consumption significantly at lower speeds.

* Cool the food sufficiently before storing in refrigerator. Check on gasket lining of the fridge-avoid opening the fridge frequently. Defrost the fridge once and ice gets more than 1/4"inch thick. Regular defrosting reduces the power consumption.

* Do not unnecessarily waster water in your daily cores and use water economically. This will reduce running of your water pump for filling overhead water tank.

* Look for ISI mark when buying electric appliances e.g. desert coolers, ACs, fans, electric iron, or any other appliance for domestic use.

These are just few useful and easy tips to avoid excessive power usage. These tips will lead to substantial savings of your power bill-without compromising on comfort or convenience in any way. This will certainly help bridging the energy gap by cutting down on the enormous wastage in homes, offices, factories and fields.

While the above mentioned tips will effect saving on the individual bills the State which itself is paying very heavily for importing power from the various agencies from outside the state also needs to seriously ponder over how to effect saving on its import bill which runs into hundreds of crores.